Aggies in the Alamodome?

Maybe you’ve heard the rule — no cheering in the pressbox. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be cheering in the Weekender half-cubicle.

And thanks to the way the start of March Madness yesterday clashed with the Weekender’s production schedule, I was certainly cheering for the Aggies. Not because I’m a fan (I’m a UT alum). Because I wanted them to keep me from looking really stupid.

At issue is the blurb on the South Regional in the “week at a glance” on Page 2. It reads, in part, “If Texas A&M survives the first weekend of March Madness, it will advance to the regional semifinals …” That’s all true, of course. Those games will be Thursday and March 24 in the Alamodome. As far as we’re concerned, A&M’s chance to go to the Final Four in front of the home fans is the South Regional’s main story line.

But because the Weekender is in an early press run, the stuff about A&M was already in print when the Aggies took the court against Ivy League champ Penn yesterday. Which I knew. But I gambled that the best men’s basketball team in A&M history surely wouldn’t go out in the first round.

So yes, I was gripping as hard as Aggie fans when the seemingly outclassed Quakers rallied from a 31-18 halftime deficit to take a 39-37 lead midway through the second half.

Fortunately, the Aggies realized they were about to blow it and stepped on the gas. Now if they can get by Louisville Saturday in what’s essentially a home game for the Cardinals (it’s at UK’s Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.), the Aggies can enjoy what should be a huge home-dome advantage next week.

Let’s hope so. My bracket depends on it. I picked them to upset Ohio State (in part thanks to the Alamodome factor) and make it to the Final Four.

Speaking of brackets, how’s yours? My “serious” bracket (which has the teams I thought would win instead of the ones I wanted to win; my two “wishful thinking” brackets have Texas going all the way) is in pretty good shape. I went 14-for-16 opening day, including getting both 8-vs.-9 matchups right. I would have done even better had I not stupidly chosen Stanford to upset Louisville. Obviously, I didn’t spend enough time on that one. I thought Stanford’s size might give Louisville trouble and forgot my other rules — (1) low-seeded major-conference teams are poor candidates to pull off upsets, and (2) where was that game played again? Lexington. KENTUCKY.

I also failed to pick Virginia Commonwealth’s upset of Duke. I thought Duke wasn’t that good, but the Blue Devils haven’t lost a first-round game since 1996. Oh, well. Hopefully, Pittsburgh will erase my VCU mistake tomorrow in the second round.

For the record, in addition to A&M, my “serious” Final Four also includes Florida, North Carolina and Kansas, with the Jayhawks winning it all. Just so you can make fun of me later when VCU goes all the way. And though you don’t really care, my “wishful thinking” Final Four substitutes Texas for Carolina and has Texas FINALLY beating Kansas in the title game.